


Looking Glass

by PurpleArrowzandLeather



Series: One Big Batty Family [5]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Batman Beyond, Son of Batman (2014), Under the Red Hood
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, a little bonding, a little sadness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 20:56:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17815376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurpleArrowzandLeather/pseuds/PurpleArrowzandLeather
Summary: Terry finds out just how close Tim and Bruce are to getting him home. The only problem is that he isn't sure he wants to go.





	Looking Glass

          Bruce has been hard at work for months attempting to build a machine that can cut through dimensional barriers. Terry doesn’t know how close they are, but Tim gave him the numbers recently. It’s getting there. Bruce doesn’t know how he’s convincing himself to continue building this thing. Terry has become closer and closer to his family, and it’ll be hard to see him go. Anyone who is familiar with Bruce knows just how attached he is to his brood.  

          He doesn’t know how hard it will be to say goodbye. At least this way, he for sure won’t be losing Terry on the streets. He wonders if Terry will miss them the way he misses Old Man Bruce. Maybe there’s a chance they get him back to a point in time where he’s still alive.  

          That’d be good. He’d have something to go back to. He has his mother and little brother, but all he’d be returning to at Wayne manor is an empty house. Bruce hates that. He had feared for a long time that he’d pushed his sons away enough that his house would be empty as well. Thankfully, they were stubborn enough to prove him wrong.  

          “Hey, old man. What are you working on?” 

          Bruce glances up at Terry as he walks up behind him. He’d known the boy was coming. “It’s your way home.” 

          Terry looks at the machine with critical eyes, and Bruce could almost swear he’s forcing himself not to back away from it.  

          “What’s wrong?” 

          Terry looks at Bruce. “What if it doesn’t work? Do I get to know what year I’m going back to? Will it be the same one or will I get to change things? What happens if something goes wrong and I end up stuck here?” 

          Bruce chuckles. “Terry, you’re already stuck here, in case you hadn’t noticed. You don’t get anymore stuck here than you already are.” 

          “Well, yeah, I noticed, but still…” 

          Bruce gives him a long look. “What is it really?” 

          Terry puts a hand on the machine, eyes tracing the lines on the floor as he sighs. “I don’t even know that I want to go back anymore. What if I go back and I find out that there’s nothing there for me to go back to?” 

          “You have your mother, Terry. And your brother.” 

          “What if time kept moving there after I got sent here and there’s nothing left? The old man is gone and I don’t want to be… I don’t…” 

          “You don’t want to be alone in your nightly activities.” 

          “Any reasonable person should know that I can’t tell my family about this. If I go back and there’s no one there, I may as well hang it up.” 

          “I was alone when I started out.” 

          “Barely. You had Alfred.” 

          “And you had me. Or older me, I suppose.” 

          “Not even you. I’m pretty certain that he wasn’t a very good father, and that’s why they all moved on. Barbara become Commissioner, Tim ended up as the Joker. Jason… I don’t think you ever met Jason. And Dick… I think he went to Bludhaven and never came back. I don’t know about Cass or Katie, or any of the rest, but my old man wasn’t very well-liked. A guy by the name of Powers tried to take his company and he barely got it back.” 

          Bruce considers that. “How do you know you won’t find someone who believes in your cause?” 

          Terry chuckles. “I’m not the adopting type. Especially since I’m not even out of high school yet.” 

          “Tim is an emancipated minor.” 

          “He hasn’t adopted anyone.” 

          Bruce laughs lightly, returning to his project. “What happens when my children have children or adopt them remains to be seen.” 

          Terry hums, moving around to slouch into a chair. He spins around to face the Batcomputer. “This is a lot bigger than I’m used to.” 

          “I’m sure it is, but I need it that size so I can interface with different teams at once. I have a lot of people to take care of out there and I need to be able to help them if I’m ever stuck here.” 

          Terry makes a small sound in agreement, but otherwise doesn’t speak.  

          Bruce hums, starting a test sequence. Terry comes to attention as the Batcomputer informs him of the failed attempt. Bruce grimaces and texts Tim. Tim shoots back a text right away informing him that he’s at work, but he’ll look at the diagnostics when he gets back. Bruce’s brow furrows as he glances at the time. Tim should have been home a couple hours ago.  

          “So, is it a simulation?” 

          Bruce makes a noise of affirmation, powering it down again to work on it a little more before Tim comes home. Terry is quiet for a long time. 

          “What if I didn’t want to go home because… I’d found one here?” 

          Bruce pauses, definitely a little shocked by his statement. He doesn’t want Terry to go, but his world needs Batman just as much as this one does. If it still exists. It needs Terry, and so does his family. Bruce has come to love Terry, despite the fact that he’s always known it wouldn’t last. He loves him anyway, since he’d feel worse if he kept the boy at arm’s length. Terry isn’t a bad kid at all. He just needs some guidance, and since Old Man Bruce was ill-equipped to handle him when he was alive, Bruce is more than happy to help. 

          It’s Terry’s growing relationship with his family that’ll make his departure so difficult. 

          “Tell you what, Terry. How about we get you a look into the other side. Instead of stepping through, you can see what it looks like there and decide based on what you feel.” 

          “You can do that?” 

          Bruce opens his mouth just as Tim joins Terry at the computer. “I can get you a visual.” 

          Terry blinks at his slightly older brother. “Really?” 

          “I once put a magnifying lens on the Flash just to see what would happen. I got images from inside the lightning. I think it was his twenty-first birthday.” 

          “At that speed, shouldn’t the glass have broken?” 

          Tim only smiles. “Not my glass.” 

          Terry stares at him for a second before smiling. “I think I’d like that chance.” 

          Tim musses his hair up and Bruce smiles when Terry shoves him away. Tim walks over to the machine and starts tinkering away. The next three hours are spent in silence while Bruce and Tim work to complete the project. Terry eventually gets bored and starts to train. His form and technique have all improved greatly, Bruce is proud to note.

          “You guys have been working on that for the past month and I had no idea what it even was. I thought it was supposed to be a rocket or something.” 

          Tim shrugs, tossing a piece of metal over his shoulder before replacing it with something else. Bruce reaches into the core to grab a loose piece and meets Tim’s hand going for the same one. Bruce grasps his fingers for a short moment before pulling away to complete his task. 

          Tim is still and quiet for a second before slowly starting to move again. Bruce interprets that as shock and decides to save him the trouble of determining what that means. He stands up, circling the machine. Tim looks up at him. Bruce offers him a hand and Tim gets up, wiping his hands on his jeans. Bruce recognizes them as one of Jason’s old pairs. He watches Bruce and the usually-stoic man pulls Tim into his arms.  

          Tim just kind of lets it happen, but Bruce does notice that the small boy hugs him back.  

          Terry coos at them from by the computer banks, a little irritating quirk that he’d picked up from Dick. Bruce ignores him, rubbing Tim’s back before letting him go. He doesn’t question it, simply squatting back down and continuing to work. 

          “Where’s the love?” Terry asks. 

          Bruce smiles, waving an arm at him. “Come on.”  

          Terry blinks. “Wait, really?” 

          “Yes, really. Now, hurry up before I change my mind.” 

          Terry bounds over, reacting almost like Dick would to the opportunity. It shows how well he’s settling in, despite his initial temper and sensitivity.  

          “If… if I stayed, would you…?” 

          Bruce puts him out at arm’s length, placing his hands on Terry’s shoulders. “Whatever you choose to do, I will be proud of you.” 

          “You promise?” 

          Bruce chuckles. “I promise.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little shortie. I know. I think the Justice League are making a guest appearance in the next one. :) Hope you guys enjoyed it, and please feel free to comment if you so desire!


End file.
